Friday, February 26, 2010

As I mentioned in a previous post, my son just had a growth spurt. All of his long pants are now too short on. I was bummed because there were a couple that he had only worn a couple of times and they finally were fitting him waist-wise. I could have donated them but instead decided to try to turn them into shorts.. I used a pair of cargo pants for my first try since he doesn't currently have any shorts that color. I was so amazed with how easy the process was that I had to share with everyone. Here are the steps in case anyone is interested:

1) Measure how long you want the shorts to be. Because I was using cargo pants that had different sections I had to undo a seam mid-way up the leg. I figured this would look better than just cutting randomly. Enter the seam ripper, my favorite sewing tool.

2) Cut along your line using pinking shears, which are especially useful for those of us who do not have a serger.

3) Hem the shorts. In this case I went along the original hem lines for a neater look. I didn't have any tan thread and didn't want to buy any, so I used some light green instead. They don't look to shabby and they fit the little guy really well!!!

[After]

Sorry, no action shots as these were finished post-bedtime. I think they look a little bit plain so I am thinking I might use a stencil to add a little something... we'll see. I promise to keep you updated. I am now excited to go into his closet and get all the pants that are too short, little dude is getting a whole "new" Spring wardrobe!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Dress-up clothes are always a hit in our house, handmade or store bought. I finally made my daughter the tu-tu she has been asking for since she started taking ballet almost two years ago. I have to admit it was much easier than I thought it would be to make and definitely cheaper than the boutique ones I've seen.

It would have been easier to just buy the rolls of tulle, but they didn't have them in vibrant colors. The selection of tulle by the bolt is HUGE so I let her pick 6 different colors and we got a yard of each. Buying it this way makes the project more time-consuming, but it's totally worth it. Decide how long you want the tutu to be and multiple by 2, that number will be your length. I cut mine in to 6" (width) by 24" (length) strips and then tied them on to the elastic. Six yards makes a very full tu-tu, perfect for a little fairy.

To finish it off I wrapped a ribbon around the ties on the elastic. She has worn it everyday since I made it and even asked to sleep in it the other day. I call that success!!!

Monday, February 22, 2010

I learned to knit during a long, cold winter in Connecticut. My husband was working insane hours and I was bored. I took a knitting class at a local store and loved it! I finished the project (dishcloth) in two classes, so the teacher had me pick another one. I decided on a knit hat and have been making these little strawberry ones since that winter for every baby born in our circle of friends. When the baby is a boy I tend to make a lemon instead. I have also made a couple of pumpkin hats along the way.

In the past year I have been making these for charity. The last one I donated was for an auction supporting DEBRA. Please visit the official auction website for more information. This is a wonderful cause, and you can read more about the little boy that inspired the whole thing at the Williams Family Blog.

One of my cousins showed interest in these hats so I thought I would chronicle the process for her. I start the knitting in the round with circular needles. The size of the needles depends on the size of the hat. In this case I am making a "blueberry" hat for a little baby boy.

The most important part is to make sure you don't twist the stitches when joining to create the circle. Placing a stitch marker before the first stitch is very helpful at this point- note the white ring.

The knitting becomes very easy after a couple of rounds. At a certain point I either add green for the seeds of the strawberries or some bumps for the other fruits in the main color.

Then the green comes in for the leaves.

Once the leaves are completed, the decreasing will begin and it will be necessary to change to double-pointed needles.

And lastly the stem which is created using an i-cord. This is the finished product for the "blueberry" model in the 0-6 months size.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

My son just went through another growth spurt. I'm bummed because his pants were finally not falling off, and now they are too short. So here's my solution, a belt for the new pants!!!

I had some ribbon, bias tape and heat n' bond left from another project, so I simply had to pruchase the D-rings.

I used the heat n' bond instead of pins to hold the bias tape in place. The blue ribbon was slippery and I felt it worked better than if I had pinned it.

I tried to get some action shots, but my son doesn't really STOP unless he's eating or sleeping. This is the best I could do. As you can see, the belt did the trick and he is no longer losing his pants.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Flannel PJ bottoms are one of my favorite things to make for my kids. My daughter tends to wear them under her princess nightgowns. However, it's been cooler than normal lately so I decided to pick up some tank tops so that she could layer at night. She is a girlie-girl to the bone, so I had to spice them up a bit. The ingredients include the usual suspects...

The first step was to print out a heart (I love Google images) to use as a template for the fabric and Wonder Under. I cut outside the line so that I could use that as my sewing guide and have some fraying. I then secured the heart on to the tank top by ironing it.

I used invisible thread and did a straight stitch right on the line. I then took my sharp scissors and snipped around to create the fraying. This part has stuck to the fabric due to the Wonder Under, so I used the scissors to peel it up a bit as I went around.

I then washed the garment and not only did the purple line disappear, but the fraying occurred. Next time I want more fraying, so I'll probably leave more like half an inch around the template line.

My daughter was thrilled with the tank and I was glad to have her warm at night. Bonus was that it was made with a remnant- woot!

I just scored some pretty cool fabric at the store the other day, so I'll do a post about making PJ bottoms next week.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

My daughter loves dresses and skirts. She'll compromise once in a while and wear a dress with leggings, but simply refuses to wear pants. I have been trying to come up with ways to get her to wear them and inspiration finally hit me at a furniture store the other day. I saw a little chandelier and immediately thought of my little princess. I would just add bling to a pair of pants. I ran to Target and got some jeans off the clearance rack and then grabbed some trim at the Fabric store.

Ten minutes later I had a pair of jeans that my daughter couldn't wait to wear- her words. Woo Hoo!!!

You know I'll be looking for more things to use to embellish pants. I promise to keep you updated.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

My husband finally got an iPod this past Christmas and he has been carrying it around in his pocket. Since I knew he would never go out to get a cover for it, I decided to make him one. I was inspired by this Cozy by Caz Crafts since I had all the materials. It was easy to whip it up while the kids napped.

I didn't have any fancy items to make the hole at the bottom, so I simply used my very sharp fabric scissors. I used them to make the button hole as well. The only thing I did different than the tutorial was I drew a line with my handy little Vanishing Fabric Marker. I then simply lay the decorative ribbon on top of that and didn't have to rely so heavily on the pins to hold it down. This helped because I had to manually feed the felt through as it was thick.

This was very fun to make and I'm thinking of making another one using fabric and perhaps a hair band for the closure! I'll be sure to post if I figure out a pattern for that!